U.S. Navy lawyer to defend alleged 9/11 mastermind

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

U.S. Navy lawyer to defend alleged 9/11 mastermind
Wed Apr 9, 2008 4:32am EDT

By Jane Sutton

GUANTANAMO BAY U.S. NAVAL BASE, Cuba (Reuters) - The
self-described mastermind of the September 11 attacks on
New York City and the Pentagon has been assigned a U.S.
military lawyer to defend him in the Guantanamo war court,
where he could face execution if convicted, The Miami
Herald reported.

Navy Capt. Prescott Prince was given orders on Tuesday to
defend Pakistani prisoner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the
newspaper said on its Web site.

Military officials at Guantanamo and at the Pentagon could
not immediately confirm the report. However, they previously
had said Prince had joined the team of military lawyers who
defend foreign captives facing war crimes charges in the
U.S. military tribunals at the Guantanamo Bay naval base
in Cuba.

Prince, 53, is an attorney and naval reservist from Richmond,
Virginia. He recently served in Iraq, where he was a lawyer
in the unit that oversaw detainee operations.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN0839452420080409

[MADem]

1. Uh oh....this isn't gonna be 'Let the Wheel of Justice Spin, Bring the Guilty Bastard In'

Mohammed's confession could be troublesome for the U.S. government if used as evidence because the CIA has admitted it subjected him to "waterboarding" -- an interrogation technique of simulated drowning that has been widely criticized as torture.

The rules of the court prohibit the use of evidence gained through torture, as does an international treaty the United States has signed. But it is left up to the trial judge to determine what evidence can be introduced.

"You start with the fact that you've broken the rules -- a secret prison, torturing. Waterboarding. Harsh extreme techniques. Using cruel, coercive techniques to extract information," said Prince. "I just don't see how you can give him a fair trial."

[Solly Mack]

2. Susan Crawford will make sure the evidence from torture is allowed

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002460

[Supersedeas]

4. thanks for the link Solly

[Robb]

3. Yeah, but is he TV-ready?